The death toll from the latest cholera outbreak has hit 40 in Nigeria, placing enormous strain on medical supplies.
Already, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control announced that the country had run low on vaccines.
The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Jide Idris, said Nigeria had placed an order for more cholera vaccines from donor agencies, even though the date of delivery is still unknown.
Idris stressed the need for the country to embrace the use of vaccines and other preventive measures to curb the spread of acute diarrhoeal infection.
Cholera is a food and water-borne disease caused by the ingestion of the bacterium, Vibrio cholerae, in contaminated water and food.
In a statement signed by Idris on Thursday, June 13, 2024, the agency said that from January 1 to June 11, 2024, a total of 1,141 suspected cases, 65 confirmed cases, and 30 deaths from cholera had been reported from 96 local government areas in 30 states of the federation.
The NCDC listed the 10 states that contributed 90 per cent to the burden of cholera as Bayelsa, Zamfara, Abia, Cross River, Bauchi, Delta, Katsina, Imo, Nasarawa, and Lagos.
On Friday, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, said the cholera incidence rate in the state had risen to 417 suspected cases, and 35 confirmed cases, with 24 deaths.
He called on members of the public to “adhere strictly to personal and environmental hygiene”
He said the cases were reported from the Agege, Badagry, Ikeja, Mushin, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Epe, Ikorodu, Ojo, Alimosho, and Eti-Osa areas of the state.
Others he mentioned include Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Amuwo-Odofin, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos Island, Shomolu, Apapa, Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos Mainland, and Surulere.
Cholera has also been reported in Ogun State. The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, told the Punch that the state had recorded one death and 14 cases.
